Category: Trail Projects

• GET 2024 day 25, Oct 25, Friday
• Start San Mateo Spring campsite
• End Nave Spring campsite
• 27 one-cuts, 1 two-cut, many no-cuts over 0.4 miles of Shipman

Continuing from where leaving off yesterday, I cleared blowdowns from Shipman Trail heading south. Trees often were not as big in diameter as yesterday, but were long enough that no-cut was impractical. Unlike yesterday, downed trees were more evenly spaced, until the very end of the day, with one big tangle.

Heading to camp, the trail climbs up a grassy slope with few trees, before descending to trail that I already cleared. So good news: Shipman is nearly cleared up to the Nave campsite.

Finished audiobook Tiger by the Tail, by Poul Anderson, a Flandry story.

Finished audiobook The Sensitive Man, by Poul Anderson.

• GET 2024 day 24, Oct 24, Thursday
• Start San Mateo Spring campsite
• End San Mateo Spring campsite
• 22 one-cuts, many no-cuts, cleared 0.4 miles

My plan is to start at the northern terminus of Shipman Trail, where it intersects with Apache kid Trail, and to work south clearing trees until eventually connecting up to sections that are already cleared.

A large tangle starts the day.

Another major tangle is on a sloped switchback. It might be hard to see the distant logs in the grass.

This one switchback is taking half a work-day. Ouch.

Typical diameter for logs to be cut today is one foot, often ponderosa, often scorched with hardened wood or new with high moisture content and sticky.

One-cut means that I only have to cut the log once, and can drag both ends off the trail. No-cut means I can drag or pivot or roll the entire log off the trail, only needing to break or saw branches first. Today I completed 22 one-cuts and many more no-cuts.

Finished audiobook Lost Man’s Lane, by Anna Katharine Green.

• GET 2024 day 23, Oct 23, Wednesday
• Start home
• End San Mateo Spring campsite
• Lopped aspens on Apache Kid Trail for a quarter mile

Hiking in from Springtime Campground, I notice a huge log was just cut that I had previously skipped– way too large for my saw.

I did not know anyone else would be working here, so I emailed a query to the Forest Service. It turns out that cougar activity caused two groups to shift from the northern part of Apache Kid. Maybe I will see other workers in a few days.

My plan today is to work on a short section of Apache Kid Trail where the aspen are growing too close.

After working for half a day, I check my distance completed: only a quarter mile. Lopping can go really slow for a single individual, but a large volunteer group can do wonders.

Finished audiobook Worlds of the Imperium, by Keith Laumer.